How Deaf Homebuyers Can Access Real Estate in Their Own Language

On BizBlend, host Sana speaks with Maria Gallucci, founder of ASL Realty and author of Raised in Silence, about how one childhood experience shaped a national platform connecting Deaf and hard of hearing clients with American Sign Language fluent real estate professionals. Maria, who learned ASL before English as a child of Deaf adults, explains why buying a home in your own language is not a convenience but a right.

Key takeaways

• Buying a home is one of life's biggest decisions; everyone deserves to understand it in their own language.
• Communication is more than words: presence, facial expression and patience matter just as much.
• The best leaders are often the best listeners, not the loudest voices in the room.
• Confidence comes from taking action, not before it. Just try.
• When one person cannot close a gap alone, build the network that can.

What happens when a twelve year old has to interpret a home purchase?

Maria Gallucci was twelve when she sat in a real estate office watching her Deaf parents struggle to understand the paperwork in front of them. There was no interpreter. Papers were pushed across the table to be signed quickly, with no explanation in the language her parents used every day.

"I saw my parents struggling, trying to understand what the papers were and just signing really fast. So I jumped in and started interpreting for them. And even though I didn't even know, I'm only twelve years old, so I didn't even know what the papers were," Maria recalls. "I thought in my head, I will never let somebody else feel like this again."

That single moment became the foundation for everything Maria would build over the next thirty years. She did not see it as a burden in the way many children of Deaf adults might describe similar experiences. She saw it as a gap no one else was filling, and a mission she would carry forward.

Photo: Ron Lach, Pexels

Why does language access matter in real estate?

Buying or selling a home is not just a transaction. It is one of the largest financial and emotional decisions most people make. For Deaf and hard of hearing clients, navigating that process without ASL fluent support is not a small inconvenience. It can mean misunderstanding terms, missing critical details or feeling excluded from a milestone that is deeply tied to the idea of home and belonging.

"Buying or selling a home is one of your biggest decisions that you'll ever make. Like it's one of the biggest purchases. And I feel like they need to have accessibility to their own language because ASL is a language. And so they need to have help onto how you, because I think it makes them feel more comfortable and more included if you're actually speaking to them in their own language," Maria explains.

ASL is a language. That simple fact, often overlooked, is at the heart of ASL Realty. Maria spent thirty years as a realtor in Colorado, helping clients one at a time. But when people from other states started reaching out, struggling to find ASL fluent agents, she realized the gap was national. One person, however skilled, was not the solution. The system needed a network.

How did ASL Realty grow into a national platform?

Maria founded ASL Realty to connect Deaf and hard of hearing clients with agents who speak their language across the United States. It is not a conventional startup. It is a movement built on service, relationships and the belief that inclusion is not about labels or checkboxes. It is about how we show up for one another.

"I can't just be in Colorado. I need to be nationwide so I can help clients not just in Colorado, connect with a ASL speaking agent," Maria says.

The Deaf and hard of hearing community is large and deeply underserved. ASL Realty currently works with agents around the country, but Maria is clear: more are needed. The network is growing because the need is real, and because she chose to build the alternative instead of waiting for someone else to do it.

Photo: RDNE Stock project, Pexels

What does just try mean when building something hard?

Maria's life motto is two words: just try. It sounds simple. It is not easy.

"Confidence doesn't like come before action. I think it comes from taking action," she says. "We sometimes spend too much time waiting until we're ready. And so some of the biggest opportunities in my life came because I said yes before I even felt completely prepared."

This philosophy runs through both ASL Realty and her memoir, Raised in Silence. The book is rooted in her story as a CODA, a child of Deaf adults, but the message reaches beyond any one community. It is about empathy, patience, presence and the reality that communication is not just about words. It is about making people feel seen, heard and understood.

Maria grew up reading facial expressions and hand movements before she learned to speak. That training shaped her leadership. She learned early that the loudest person in the room is rarely the most effective. The best communicators, she says, are the ones who listen to understand, not just to respond.

What can other mission driven founders learn from this?

If you have a mission you have been keeping small because the gap feels too big or the path unclear, Maria's story offers a template. She did not start with a business plan or venture funding. She started with a memory of her parents signing papers they did not fully understand, and a quiet promise she made to herself at twelve.

She built ASL Realty not by fitting into the real estate industry, but by building relationships around who she already was. She took action before she felt ready. She said yes to opportunities that scared her. She failed, learned and tried again.

"If we all just try, then we, we don't know how we can change someone else's life by just doing. I always think that a small act of kindness a day can change someone's life," Maria says.

The work is ongoing. The need is still vast. But the movement is real, and it started with one person willing to bridge a gap no one else was filling.

Who this episode is for

This episode is for founders who see a gap no one else is closing, leaders who want to build something rooted in service rather than scale for its own sake, and anyone navigating the intersection of personal story and professional mission. It is also for anyone who communicates with people who are different from them and wants to do it better.

Listen to the full episode

Hear the full conversation with Maria Gallucci on BizBlend. You can explore more episodes on the BizBlend show page.